Become Healthy with Diabetes Naturally

This website is dedicated to teaching you how lifestyle changes can prevent, treat, and even reverse diabetes and related conditions. For those with a family history of diabetes, lifestyle changes alone can prevent diabetes. For those with prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, obesity or metabolic syndrome, lifestyle changes including a whole-food low carbohydrate diet and exercise can improve, and in many cases, reverse these conditions. For those with type 1 diabetes, these same lifestyle changes can dramatically improve blood sugar control with lower insulin doses. This ultimately translates to a reduction in long-term diabetic complications, hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) episodes and medication requirements including insulin.

My name is Keith Runyan, MD.I am an allopathic physician who has had type 1 diabetes since 1998. Over the years since my diagnosis, I have read extensively to acquire a deeper understanding of diabetes and numerous related metabolic conditions. Admittedly, there was a self-serving interest in doing so. Most practicing physicians either do not have the time or interest in finding alternative approaches to solving medical problems. I observed that prescribing medications alone for type 2 diabetes and related metabolic conditions makes small temporary improvements, but does not reverse them or prevent serious complications. In my case, following all the recommended therapies for type 1 diabetes resulted in sub-optimal glycemic control (blood sugar control), frequent hypoglycemia (low blood sugars) and no assurance that I would not end up with long-term diabetic complications. This is why patients are told that their medical conditions are chronic and progressive and will simply get worse over time and so they do. With the knowledge I have gained, I use food, exercise, restorative sleep, stress reduction, and minimal medications to keep my diabetes under exceptional control, all documented on my blog. You can read more about how I got started on my journey here. I reversed all of my diabetic complications many years ago and hope to live a full and long life without developing any in the future.

The majority of persons in the U.S. and other "Westernized" countries already have metabolic conditions including insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, overweight or obesity (excess body fat) which are all reversible with lifestyle changes. This facilitates reduction or elimination of many medications.

I can teach you the methods that I have learned and the medications that have the most benefits with the fewest side-effects. After all, “doctor” is the latin word for “teacher”. This is the purpose of the low carb diabetes doctor website.

Lifestyle Changes

Here I list what I mean by lifestyle changes. I primarily focus on the following:

Low Carb Diabetes Diet - with emphasis on a whole-food low carb or ketogenic diet because it is very effective for the chronic medical conditions discussed on this website. Additionally, the adverse effects of processed foods, added sugars, vegetable oils, grains, soy products, and additives are discussed.

Regular Exercise - with emphasis on regular. There are advantages to some types of exercise over others, but moving your body frequently is a normal part of living while being sedentary is not. Click here to learn more.

Restorative Sleep - is very important to repair our body and brain every night. For example, lack of sleep can lead to insulin resistance which can lead to sleep apnea and additional loss of sleep creating a vicious cycle. Click here to learn more.

Adequate Sunshine Exposure - is important to allow your skin to synthesize adequate levels of vitamin D and related compounds. Ultraviolet B (UVB) rays that are most abundant during midday are needed to produce vitamin D. These rays also cause sunburn when exposure is excessive. Ultraviolet A rays cause both skin aging and increase risk for skin cancer, but contribute little, if any, to vitamin D synthesis. Getting enough UVB, but not too much, is what we should be seeking. Click here to learn more.

Stress Reduction - helps to reduce the adverse effects of stress on insulin resistance and glucose metabolism. Having a stressful life whether from job, family, or social environment, puts you in a chronic state of fight or flight. This state is fine for the occasional life-saving escape from a predator, but will not work out well as a life-long state. Click here to learn more.

Smoking Cessation - It has been well publicized that smoking causes most cases of lung cancer and is a major risk factor in the development of heart disease and stroke. Smoking rates in the U.S. are half what they were at its peak in the 1940s. Smoking is restricted in public arenas. Smoking has no positive attributes and people who continue to smoke do so because of either their denial that their health will be adversely affected and/or their addiction to the habit and/or nicotine. Click here to learn more.

Alcohol Cessation - It is not widely known that alcohol is detrimental to your health. Most consider alcohol to only be a problem when consumed excessively, as in alcohol intoxication, alcoholism, or driving under the influence of alcohol. In the U.S., alcohol products are frequently advertised on television and other media outlets without mention of any harmful effects except the admonition to “drink responsibly”. But does alcohol have any beneficial effects and how much alcohol does one have to drink to produce harm? Many are unaware that alcohol is a liver toxin that only the liver can metabolize. Thus, alcohol has both adverse metabolic and neurotoxic effects. Click here to learn more.

Social Interactions - We are social animals. Social interaction played a significant part in our evolution as a species. Social isolation in most persons leads to adverse health consequences. Click here to learn more.

Insulin Resistance

Here you will learn what insulin resistance is, that it is very prevalent in our society, what its signs and symptoms are, how it leads to numerous chronic diseases, how to find out if you have it, and how you can reverse it with lifestyle changes, and, if needed, some medications that can help as well. Click here to learn more.

Diabetes

Here I discuss nine different types or variants of diabetes. Understanding how these disorders begin and what is know about their causes will help us to formulate effective treatment strategies. All nine of these forms of diabetes share one feature: dietary carbohydrate intolerance over and above that of dietary protein and fat. Because humans can thrive on protein and fat alone and have no essential requirements for carbohydrate, this forms the rationale for carbohydrate restriction in the treatment of diabetes. But as you will see, other lifestyle changes and some medications can significantly improve diabetes as well. My emphasis is on maximizing lifestyle changes and minimizing medications, but not to rule out anything that will be beneficial. Click on Diabetes in the Navigation bar at the top of this page.

The Whole-Food Low Carb Diabetes Diet

Here I go into detail about the formulation of a low carb diabetes diet from whole foods preferably cooked at home and the different degrees of carb restriction based on one’s individual level of carbohydrate intolerance including the very low carb ketogenic diet that naturally and safely results in nutritional ketosis. This dietary pattern is the most potent antidote to insulin resistance and diabetes and their many associated chronic medical conditions.

Exercise

The second most powerful lifestyle change after implementing a low carb diabetes diet is exercise. This section discusses the different types of exercise: aerobic, resistance, high intensity interval training and their beneficial effects on insulin resistance and glucose disposal. While moving your body frequently is important, additional benefits can be obtained from progressive training with progressive overload (stress), recovery, and adaptation compared to intermittent exercise without any specific goals. I give specific examples of these principles in the sports of swimming, running, cycling, and weightlifting simply because I have experience doing them, but these principles can be applied to any physical activity or sport. The activity you choose must be enjoyable or it will not be sustained. But you must pursue activities long enough to overcome the initial discomfort that results from long periods of prior inactivity. Once you overcome the initial discomfort, you must challenge yourself in your activity or sport to improve gradually over time. Otherwise, you will limit your capacity for resilience. We become resistant to the muscle building effects of exercise as we age requiring us to increase our activity, not decrease it. Click here to learn more.

Thanks For Your Support

I hope to fund this website with the sale of my books and voluntary donations. If you like the information provided and have benefited from it, please support my efforts by purchasing a book or making a donation. If you need support beyond the information on the website or in my books, consider a personal consultation with me (see below). My books and the articles on this website have extensive references to the medical literature so that you and your doctor can verify the information provided. This website contains no secrets, magic pills or potions. What it does contain is the information needed to identify your current metabolic condition and the lifestyle changes you need to reverse your metabolic conditions. I also discuss the pros and cons of medications used for these conditions because some are very useful, and others, not so much. Is making healthy lifestyle changes going to be easy? For some yes, for many possibly not. But having helped many patients be successful and having done it myself, I am sure I can inspire you to become the best version of yourself. That's the goal of the low carb diabetes doctor website! Now let’s get started!

About Dr. Runyan

The journey I took to improve my diabetes and my interest in lifestyle as a medical therapy is describedherealong with my educational background and certifications.

Blog

Blog - My blog is primarily where I document my personal efforts to control my type 1 diabetes. You can see every blood glucose I have measured and every insulin dose I have injected since starting the low carb ketogenic diet in my blog. I have always kept a careful log of these measurements, but after starting my low carb ketogenic diet on February 8, 2012, I decided to enter the data in a spreadsheet and started the blog in 2015. My blog can be found here.

Videos & Podcasts

Videos and Podcasts - Here you will find videos and podcasts I have done talking about my experiences with the low carb diabetes diet for type 1 diabetes.

My Books Are Available in Downloadable PDF or in Print on Amazon.

Both books are available as a PDF ebook and as a print book from Amazon. Note: Clicking on the links above will take you to the website of Ellen Davis, MS, my coauthor. Her website is ketogenic-diet-resource.com.

Personal Consultation

If you would like to consult with me about managing your diabetes or other metabolic conditions discussed on this website, you may send me an email to discuss your needs, receive a patient history form to complete, and schedule a Skype meeting. After we have scheduled a meeting, you can use the payment button below. There is an email form on the Contact page.

Consultation

Donate Here

If you like the information provided and have benefited from it, please support my efforts by purchasing a book or making a voluntary donation below.

Personal Consultation

If you would like to consult with me about managing your diabetes or other metabolic conditions discussed on this website, you may send me an email to discuss your needs, receive a patient history form to complete, and schedule a Skype meeting. After we have scheduled a meeting, you can use the payment button below. There is an email form on the Contact page.

Consultation

Donate Here

If you like the information provided and have benefited from it, please support my efforts by purchasing a book or making a voluntary donation below.